October 28, 2011

Author Feature - Mark Smythe author of The Snowman's Revenge

The Snowman's Revenge

Ages: 4-8

Pages: 44

Publisher: Mark Smythe

ARV: $9.99

The snow's piled up high and school's cancelled, so let's play outside and, of course, build a snowman! Now, what if you were left out in the cold snow all by yourself, like that poor snowman? Would you be mad? Of course you would!

Well, this snowman is out for revenge, especially after he sees those kids in the nice warm house, eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate! So, let's see what happens in this delightful story, nicely flowing with rhymed verse, very beautifully illustrated and quite humorous indeed.

So lovable, it's sure to be an instant favorite and a timeless classic with "kids" of all ages.

About the Author...

Mark Smythe resides in a small, rural town located in the beautiful Southern geography of Western New York State. It is a lovely and quaint agricultural community, just South of Buffalo, New York.

He and his two children, Cassandra and Alexander, live on a picturesque, turn-of-the-century farm complete with a charming old white farmhouse, quaint red barns and wooden pasture fences.

Mark is an Interior Structural Fire Fighter with a local Volunteer Fire Department, and also works in the field of Bio-Oncology Diagnostics.

In His Own Words...

You will note that the rhymed verse, in this particular book, is quite fun and, depending on how you tell the story (what tonation you use, the meter, the cadence, voice ranges, etc…)it can be altered for various age ranges and personalities. The story can be told in a very humorous manner, or you can make it a bit spooky, or you can just let the flow of the rhyme and the nice illustrations encapture the imagination.

Not only is the rhymed verse unique in its very nice cadence, allowing for verbal creativity in your presentation, but you will also note various “graphic” or “artistic” uses of the text, as well; in that, the text is very purposely “integrated” into the illustrations, in certain page spreads, in order to make the text “come alive” as an imbedded part of the illustration itself.

For instance, in the scene where a snowball is being thrown, it is the text that tells the tale of the snowball’s path, catching and leading the eye, infusing the text into the very drawing itself. Or, when the snowman slides down the hill toward the house: it is the text that tells the “story” of his curvy, swervey ride.

So, when talking of the writing process, I also incorporate the illustration process; because, as Mike (my very gifted illustrator) will tell you, I was extremely particular and very meticulous about how each of the drawings depicted the story and lent itself to the rhymed verse. In so doing, I believe we created a book that is so fun for children to read (as I have seen their faces light right up), a joy for adults to read to a child, and one that is very pleasing to the eye (in that the drawings, the colors and the resolution is very aesthetically pleasing overall.

** Thank you most kindly Mark for stopping by and sharing yourself with us...we wish you success in all that you do~!! **